Hundreds of football fans from Kolkata are either in Qatar now for the World Cup, will be arriving at the country for the next round of matches or have returned after watching some of the group league encounters.
Tour operators said they have seen a double surge in demand for tickets to Qatar compared to what they had seen in earlier World Cups in Russia, 2018 and Brazil 2014.
“Less than 100 people had booked tickets through us for Brazil and the number was slightly more for Russia. For the Qatar World Cup, the number has crossed 200 already and we are still getting queries from fans who want to watch matches for the next rounds,” said Avijit Das, director, Hermes Voyages, that has organised match tickets and trips to Qatar, Russia and Brazil.
“We are sold out completely but still there are frantic calls for tickets for quarter-finals and semi-finals,” he said.
One fan from Kolkata, who had been to Russia for the World Cup, watched two semi-finals and the final and stayed for 10 days in two cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, had spent around Rs 5.5 lakh in 2018.
In comparison, he would be paying Rs 3.5 lakh in Qatar in 2022 to watch two semi-finals and a stay for a week. The costs do not include food, he said.
Direct flight, cheaper accommodation, food and transport options, no need to hop from one city to another, are some of the important factors of Qatar being popular among Kolkatans.
Accommodation
Those who have visited Brazil and Russia, said accommodation was expensive there, often hard to find and, at times, far away from the stadium.
“In Rio, we had a difficult time finding accommodation. I got a hotel where there was a small room with a toilet. The room was so small that I had to keep my luggage on the bed,” said Avijit Das.
In Moscow and St Petersburg, he said, the hotels were expensive and were far away from the stadium or nearest Metro stations.
In comparison, Doha has several accommodation facilities, including hotels, apartments and cabins at fan villages.
“The apartment is clean with all facilities, including kitchen. Our apartment is in central Doha from where one can walk to supermarkets and stores,” said Soikat Sanyal, 58, the senior general manager of a manufacturing company.
Sanyal arrived in Doha on November 27 with two other friends and watched four matches, including the one on Thursday between Belgium and Croatia.
The apartment’s rent is Rs 14,000 per day.
There were cheaper apartments on the fringes of Doha, he said. There are also hotels of different price ranges in and around Doha.
Along with that are hundreds of cabins at fan villages across the city.
Arup Sen, a retired engineer who has returned from Doha recently, stayed at a cabin in the fan village of Zafaran. The air-conditioned cabin with a refrigerator had cost him a little more than Rs 16,000 per day.
Transport
Apart from the cost of transportation, Qatar does not have the hassle of travelling from one city to another to watch matches like in Russia or Brazil.
“All stadiums are in and around Doha. This is why many elderly people booked tickets this time,” said Avijit.
The Metro network crisscrosses the city and connects almost all stadiums, fan villages and tourist attractions.
“We had to take a bullet train from St Petersburg to Moscow. It was very expensive,” said Laltu Das, a businessman from Kolkata who would be in Doha on December 13 and watch the two semi-finals.
Avijit said he and many others would have to take coaches, trains and flights to travel from one city to another in Russia and Brazil.
However, in Doha, there are coaches and Metro taking fans to the stadium free of cost.
“The Metro network is amazing,” said Sanyal. He said at some stadiums, which are a bit far from the Metro station, free-of-cost coach services are there to transport fans.
Sen said he and his brother roamed around Doha for seven days without spending any money.
Food
Qatar has more choices of food, to the taste of Indians compared to Brazil and Russia, said fans. There are also many cheap food joints. Some fans said they have eaten fish and rice for Rs 200. There are also food joints at the fan villages with food from many countries.
“In Brazil, the food options were limited,” said Das. “It was not so in Russia, although the prices were very high,” he said.